Tuesday, October 8, 2013

This month,
Emma Clark Library’s Director, Ted Gutmann, along with Robert Johnson, Manager
of Information and Technology Services, will present at the Internet Librarian
Conference in Monterey, California. The
conference will be held October 28 – 30 and is expected to be attended by
thousands of librarians from around the world.

Mr. Gutmann
and Mr. Johnson’s program will feature mobile library applications and the
steps necessary to design and develop an effective library app. They will also discuss the pros, cons, and
tips for a digital extension of library services.

“Emma
mobile”, launched in November 2012, is a free app available for both Apple and
Android. It was featured in Computers in Libraries Magazine in
February of this year and is rated 5 stars in the iTunes store. As of October 2013, there have been 2,065 downloads for the app.

With this app,
users can:

Store and display a digital
version of their library card on their mobile device

Scan an ISBN and automatically
search the library’s catalog to see if Emma Clark owns it – and if so,
place a hold on the item

Automatically log-in to search
online databases and check their account

Receive notifications about their
items on hold, fines, and when their card needs to be renewed

Search the library catalog

View the library calendar of
events

Get turn-by-turn directions to
the library

Receive one-touch phone and/or
email to the library

"This is where everything is going," says Mr.
Gutmann. "Our computers are going to be these handheld devices, and Emma
Clark is at the forefront of that."